In a passionate address during an interactive session with journalists on Thursday in Lagos, Bishop Wale Oke, President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), called for a complete new constitution for Nigeria. He condemned what he called the bias in the present constitution toward Islam while ignoring Christianity. He emphasized the need for a fair, people-driven document and urged the government to prioritize security, governance, and electoral integrity ahead of the 2027 elections.
Bishop Oke described the current constitution as a “contraption” imposed by the military, stating, “There is a constitutional review that is going on. And the stand of the Episcopal Church of Nigeria has been consistent — That this constitution that we are running now is a contraption. And we should jettison it and initiate the process to have a constitution that will represent the will of the people, that will begin with a true ‘we, the people of Nigeria, are giving ourselves this constitution’.”
He highlighted the document’s imbalance, noting, “A constitution that mentions Sharia, Islam many times and there is no mention of the church or Christians even once, not once. Such a constitution is not acceptable to us.” Bishop Oke argued that it ignores the aspirations of over 50 percent of Nigerians, adding, “Yet the other faith dominates the pages as though Nigeria is an Islamic nation. Nigeria, by the same constitution, is not an Islamic nation. It is a secular nation. We want a constitution that does not play a religious game. Where no religion is mentioned and it is fair to all. Or give us a constitution where the religions that we practice are equally emphasized.”
The PFN leader stressed that the church represents “approximately 50 percent plus of the population of Nigeria,” rejecting a constitution that is “silent on the Christian faith and it is very loud and vocal on the other faith.”
He declared, “We, the church in Nigeria, we reject it in totality. We want either a neutral constitution that does not even play the game of religion at all. Or a constitution that emphasizes all religion equally.”
Turning to the 2027 elections, Bishop Oke expressed concern over premature politicking, saying, “Then the case of the next election in 2027, we discover that the nation is being overheated, when even the whistle has not been blown to begin campaigning. For a long time, almost across every level, whether local government or state or federal, governance is laid aside. Politicking is at the center stage. For goodness sake, let’s govern.”
He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to regulate campaigns, adding, “When INEC now says it is time to go and campaign, or go ahead and do your campaign then we can start all this. But to use the time that we should be providing basic governance that will support Nigerians that are suffering, is not good. All we do is politicking now. And that’s not fair on the people. Let’s govern. And let’s INEC blow the whistle at the right time.”
On electoral reforms, the PFN threw its support behind real-time transmission of results, stating, “We must also acknowledge that we support the Nigerian people in the outcry against the attempt to avoid the passage of real-time transmission of election results during elections. We stand with the Nigerian people to insist that transmission of election results in real time should be made a law.”
Bishop Oke stated that “Nigeria has developed to a point where we must trust our electoral system. And one of the ways to trust our electoral system is to make sure that the votes of Nigerians count, and our votes should count. So we support the transmission of election results through the electronic media.”
According to him, security emerged as the “most urgent matter” . While commending government efforts, Bishop Oke called for intensification. “We commend the efforts of the federal government in tackling insecurity. We can see the efforts. We can. The change in military architecture and the appointment of a new national security minister of defense,” he said.
He praised the partnership with the United States, noting, “We see the partnership with America in getting expertise, training, equipment, and tools. We commend the federal government for the effort.”
However, he urged more action amid ongoing violence: “These evil people are not ready to drop their evil ways. They kidnapped people in Benue State a few days ago. They killed over a hundred in Kwara State. They killed in Benue. They killed in Southern Kaduna. They kidnapped people from churches. So, we want the government to double up its effort to deal with these people that are trying to make our nation unsafe.”
He also thanked the United States for its support, saying, “The primary purpose of governance is provision of security and welfare. And so I want to thank America for partnering with Nigeria in a bid to stop the killing of innocent citizens going on in the country.” He expressed high expectations, adding, “I know the president said they are having sleepless nights on insecurity, and we pray that as they are having those sleepless nights, solutions and answers will come from those sleepless nights.”
Regarding the INEC chairman, the PFN opposed calls for his removal: “PFN would like to state clearly that we do not support any group of Nigerians calling for the removal of the INEC chairman because he expressed his view on national issues. He is a full-fledged citizen of Nigeria and has a right to contribute to any national discourse.”
On local governance and economic issues, he advocated direct funding to local governments: “So money should be sent directly to local governments, where the chairman will be able to allocate the resources for the right thing. The local governments have been suffering, and there are no infrastructures, there are no roads, no light in the local government areas.”
The PFN called for policy reviews to address hunger and hardship: “The government should try to review some of their policies and make it more people-friendly. We have too many people in Nigeria that are hungry, that can’t even take care of themselves. So their policies should be reviewed and make it more people-friendly. Most of our roads are dead traps, they should fix the roads and fix security and fix light. These are things that citizens ask for. Give us light, give us roads, give us water, give us light. Make life easy for us.”
The PFN strongly condemned the reported coup plots. “The President and the Fellowship of Nigeria, unanimously and decisively condemned the reported act to forcefully change the government of the Federal Republic through a violent coup. Coup plotting is no longer fashionable and it’s unacceptable to Nigerians.
“We advise the Federal Government to make sure the coup plotters are properly interrogated and those that are found guilty should face the full wrath of the law so it will serve as a warning to other people not to play that kind of a game.”
PFN, however, emphasized the need to ensure that democracy thrives through free and fair elections that will produce good leaders.
“We don’t want a situation where coups are plotted and the people are jubilating. No. We want to jubilate when elections are credible, elections go through the normal course and the right people emerge as leaders.”
Finally, Bishop Oke reiterated PFN’s nonpartisan stance: “At PFN, we are nonpartisan. And PFN is not going to allow its pulpits to be used for campaigns and to give support to any political party. Because our members are in all the political parties.” He highlighted PFN’s humanitarian efforts, noting, “PFN has done quite a lot sending relief materials to different IDP camps in support of the victims of insecurity… We send supports to orphans. Many of us handle orphans whose parents have been killed and they are left behind without any help.”
Throughout his address, Bishop Oke offered prayers for the government: “We’re praying for our president relentlessly. We’re praying for our governors relentlessly… God bless Mr. President. God bless the judiciary. God bless the Senate. God bless the House of Rep. And God bless Nigeria.”
